My 2020 Northern Alberta Whitetail

[Weavster]

Thanks to 58thecat for sharing my whitetail picture! I usually don't post too much on the hunting side, as usually my focus is more fishing. With a little encouragement, I figured a write-up was needed for this buck.

Normally the last week of November I'm off to chase elk with my cousin in the foothills via horseback. But with the way this year shook out we were no longer going to do this trip and I had the last two weeks of November to focus on harvesting a mature whitetail.

There was one buck in particular that peaked my interest. There were two problems with this one, I never had a daytime picture of him since late October and two he would only show every 5-8 days. After getting off shift it was finally time to spend 2 weeks trying to find him. The first day I snuck out to my blind only to find a moose had absolutely trashed it.. I did my best to tie it back together to make it work for the day. The next day I brought out another blind and set it up in a location where I felt he would frequent more often. This location was very promising and hidden from any road traffic. I hunted for 6 days with no sign of him... lots of young 5x5's and some decent 4x4s. One 4x4 was very tempting having nice mass, length and width.

That's when I woke up to hunt on the 7th day to a video of him walking down the trail at 11 pm the night before. Seeing that buck walking in the video lit a fire under me; I knew he was still around and I was eager to get back out there. Well, that day was a bust... sat all day with only a few small bucks roaming and a couple does.

Day 8 comes around and I'm out before the sun comes up and sure enough, there are does and bucks running everywhere. At 8 am I could hear grunting and I look up and outcomes that nice 4x4 putting on an absolute show right in front of me. At one point I considered harvesting this deer, as it was the biggest deer I had saw all season and with only 5 days left to hunt I knew my chances on my target buck were winding down. I second-guessed and figured this buck had more potential next season and I passed on him as he walked by at 40 yards. I was replaying what had just happened over and over when I looked up and a big body buck stepped out of the bush line. At 220 yards away, I knew exactly which buck this was by his distinctive G2 on the right side. I immediately grabbed my gun and got on my shooting stick. He stopped for a brief second and as I lined up and squeezed off my shot he took a small step forward. I instantly knew I hit him slightly far back. I decided to give it a few hours before even looking to see about blood. Two hours passed... that felt like days and I walked back down to where I had shot him. There was blood sprayed everywhere and two ravens flew up from inside the trees so I thought to myself "he's probably expired laying just down the bank in the trees". As I followed the blood, I heard rustling in the thick bush down the slope, instantly I knew what I had done and that he was just bumped from his bed.... Knowing that I had hit him farther back than I wanted and feeling the regret after only waiting 2 hours, my heart literally sank that I had spooked this deer up. At that point, I decided to go home for lunch and come back an hour before the last light to try and track him again. After following his blood trail down into the valley I watched his tracks go across the river and where he had broken through on the other side there was blood everywhere again. My heart instantly sunk knowing I didn't have permission on that piece, I instantly looked at my ownership map and hiked back out of the valley to my truck. Needless to say, the owners were very understanding of the situation and gave me permission to go track and finish off my wounded deer. As I hiked back down the other side of the valley I couldn't stop thinking about how I spooked this deer out of its bed and might never find him again. Before I knew it, I was back on the blood trail where it went back into some very thick trees. Soon there was a bed covered in blood... 10 yards later there was another and another and another. At this point, I had saw about 5 beds within 50 yards with lots of blood in each. I knew he wasn't far. With the light starting to fade I heard a crack ahead of me... He was still alive!! I could see willows moving within 20 yards of me but couldn't see the deer. I would take one step in that directions and stop for a moment with my rifle in hand and then take another step and stop. Eventually I was at 15 yards and could see his siloutte through the willows laying there but it was so thick I couldn't get another shot to finish him. So I kept taking one step and stopping as I closed into about 10 yards he finally lifted his head and tried to stand up. My heart started to race again, one quick shot and there he laid right infront of me. The rolar coaster of emotions set in that it was finally over and I finally got to lay my hands on this majestic animal. Needless to say, the recovery was alot of work trying to get him a mile up and out of the river valley. I can't wait to get the shoulder mount as it will be a hunt I will never forget.

Thanks to a freind and his family who dropped everything to help me drag this deer up and out of the valley. Also, another big shout out to the land owners for letting me finish what I started (I dropped off a bottle later as a token of my appreciation). Finally thanks to 58thecat for encouraging me to do this write-up!

[KazIce]

What a buck! Congrats on the deer and thank you for posting, it was a fun read.


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[Twisted Canuck]

Thats a great buck, and good on you to put in the effort to make the recovery. It's always a hard thing when the shot doesn't go quite right, and it turns into a long track. Glad you didn't lose him. He is a fantastic wt.

[Gboe8]

Great buck and write up enjoyed the read! Congrats! Not sure about the hat though...

[Smoky buck]

That is nice one glad you posted it

[OL_JR]

Heck of a buck congrats!

[hawk-i]

Nice buck, congrats man!

[saskbooknut]

Thanks for sharing your story. That is one handsome buck.

[pikeman06]

Jeez weaver that's a Doozie nice and even and tall for a bush buck. Great job can't pass on that. 165 or what? Not that it matters I got quite a few very similar i like to think they are 165 net somewhere in there. Thank for sharing.

[Dick284]

That there is a dandy!

[hayseed]

Weill done man on a great hunt and buck!! Congrats!

[OL_JR]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Jeez weaver that's a Doozie nice and even and tall for a bush buck. Great job can't pass on that. 165 or what? Not that it matters I got quite a few very similar i like to think they are 165 net somewhere in there. Thank for sharing.

Yes if Weavster doesn't mind let's have a bit of a guess the score, that buck is a beauty I'll say 169 3/8 gross.

[lromanchuk]

Great buck. Nice work.

[JD848]

Great buck Weavster, you stuck it out and it worked out great.

All the best
JD

[savageguy model 111]

Definitely a solid-looking whitetail congratulations great Story you should have submitted it to AO magazine they maybe would of publish it good for you anyway great story Great deer.

[kujoseto]

Great buck.
Way to go with tracking him down! Good stuff

[58thecat]

Thx for sharing this Matt....hmmm funny how big fish and big deer go hand and hand eh!
You work hard at something and it pays off....perseverance...congrats and I think you aged a few years from the time you took the shot to the time you finally got him....

[Wolftrapper]

Great buck and write up.
Thanks for sharing.

[coxy95]

Well done! Thanks for the write up, you should hang out in the hunting side more often!

[teledogs]

Well done, he is a beauty! Congratulations Weavster and thanks for sharing!

[7magtime]

Originally Posted by Dick284

That there is a dandy!

X2!! Congrats and good job on seeing your shot through to the end!

[DRhunter]

Outstanding deer. Tough recovery, but congrats on a beauty Whitetail!

DR

[JULIUS]

Awesome buck. Loved the write up. It has me thinking about next season for sure. Great to see people put in the work after the shot too many just give up.
Great Job

[Zip]

Nice...actually very very nice write up! And ya the Buck is defiantly one to write home about..huge, and well worth the write up and picture...Awesome and thanks for sharing it all here...
Zip

[35 whelen]

Nice Buck Matt ,I might have to hit my old stomping grounds up there again .

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[gramps73]

Great story and even better buck.
congrats on a great animal

[Simplefarmer]

Beauty, well done sir !

[buckman]

He has it all good brows,blades and mass.

[weekender7]

Totally awesome buck and a really great read about your experience. CONGRATS!!!

[bonedogg]

Looks like hes probably close to Net B & C perhaps? great buck and hunt, thanks for sharing!